'A draw was a fair outcome' says Shine

At the end of four days of fascinating cricket at Bath, Somerset had to settle for a draw from their championship match against Hampshire.

Chasing a total of 190 to win off a minimum of 61 overs, the Somerset ninth wicket pair of Keith Dutch(15) and Matt Bulbeck (13) batted out the last seven overs to see the Cidermen hold out for a draw.

Earlier in the day Hampshire had been bowled out for 98 runs with Richard Johnson having a dream return by taking 7 for 43 to set up an intriguing target for Somerset to chase.

With the score on 118 for 4 after 40 overs the target looked achievable, but when three quick wickets fell shortly afterwards the situation changed and in the end they batted out for the draw and 7 points from the match.

After the close of play Kevin Shine told me: "It certainly has been a very interesting day today and a draw was a fair outcome. We fought our way back into the game and were pushing hard for a result all the way, but once Rob Turner was out we decided to shut up shop, which `Dutchy' and `Bully' did well for us."

He continued: "`Johnno' bowled really well for us, and it's just a shame that we couldn't force the result, but the team spirit is high and we are all looking forward to tomorrows NUL game against Leicestershire."